The United States and Canada Announce Plans to Increase NEXUS Benefits

Tuesday, May 08, 2012)
“CBP and CBSA are working together to expand NEXUS membership and enhance its benefits, to ensure more pre-screened travelers enjoy expedited processing at the border,” said CBP Commissioner David Aguilar. “This is just one of a number of initiatives the United States and Canada are undertaking as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan that will help facilitate lawful trade and travel while enhancing security."
“Our Government's top priority is creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity,” said Minister Toews. “The Border Action Plan is designed to speed up legitimate trade and travel, and improve security in North America by aligning the entry of people and goods at the perimeter while streamlining processes at the Canada-U.S. border. With these commitments to retain and increase NEXUS membership, Canada and the United States will increase efficiency to better focus their resources and examination efforts on travelers of high or unknown risk.”
The NEXUS program allows pre-screened travelers expedited processing by United States and Canadian officials across the U.S.-Canada border at designated air, land and marine locations.
Delivering on their commitment to streamline the membership renewal process for the NEXUS program, CBP and CBSA will waive the interview for members who have not had changes to their information and have maintained their low-risk status. The United States and Canada also announced they have begun enrolment blitzes to expedite the processing of NEXUS applications and have launched an outreach and awareness plan to increase membership in NEXUS.
As part of our work refining the NEXUS program, earlier this year, additional benefits were announced including a new trusted traveler kiosk at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to expedite passage for members flying into Canada; and a NEXUS lane at the Queenston/Lewiston Bridge.
Enhancements to the NEXUS program are critical to facilitating the lawful flow of pre-approved, low-risk travelers while enabling a focus on people about whom we know the least. Increased membership further encourages cross-border travel, supporting both American and Canadian economies.
On February 4, 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper released the Beyond the Border Declaration, articulating a shared vision in which our countries work together to address threats at the earliest point possible while facilitating the legitimate movement of people, goods and services across our shared border. The Action Plan, released in December 2011, outlines the specific steps our countries intend to take to achieve the security and economic competitiveness goals outlined in the Beyond the Border Declaration.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
Posted by No comments:

Fewer Asians immigrating to Canada

Since 2006, Canadian immigration applications from many Asian countries have dropped by more than half. Critics claim that the drop in applications from China, India, the Philippines and Pakistan is because the country's recent policy changes favour some immigrant countries over others.

Statistics show a significant drop in the annual number of Chinese, Indians, Filipinos and Pakistanis applying for permanent residency between 2006 and 2011. Specifically, applications from China fell 45 percent; India by almost 51 percent; the Philippines by 32 percent; and Pakistan by 65 percent.

While the number of Canadian immigration applications did decrease overall for the top 10 source countries, the declines of the Asian countries were bigger than English or French-speaking countries. The top 10 source countries include the US, France, the UK, China, and India. 

Additionally, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the number of immigration applications from the US has dropped by only 10 percent and applicants from France fell by 7 percent in 2011.

In recent years, Canada has been making significant changes to the immigration system by tightening language requirements, restricting eligibility to limited occupations in demand, and capping the amount of applications accepted each year.

"I really don't care where people come from as long as they are able to succeed in Canada. I think more employers have the same attitude," Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said. "One issue here is language proficiency. All of the data says the primary reason why foreign trained professionals are not hired in Canada is language proficiency, which is an indicator of people's soft social skills.
Posted by No comments:

Globe and Mail tackles immigration in Canada, says we need to double it


Posted by Bethany Horne on Monday, May 7, 2012
Source: Open file
On Saturday, the Globe and Mail dedicated an entire section to immigration in Canada. “The immigrant answer: A time to lead” series calls for “a flood of immigrants” to help fill more than a million jobs that Canada’s demographers predict will go unfilled by 2021.
The newspaper suggested Canada should double its intake of “economic” migrants—“those selected for their skills,” to raise annual immigration to 400,000 by 2016.
The online version of the series includes an interactive look at the stories profiled in the paper.
Like a small town in Manitoba that actively recruited and retained immigrants who now lead productive, professional lives. (video)
The small community of Steinbach, Man., is a microcosm of Canada's dilemma: In the 1990s, it lacked the population to fill needed jobs, then a new provincial program helped it draw more immigrants.
Today, Steinbach is transformed, having grown by 60 per cent, with newcomers from 40 countries. The town has pulled together to help integrate the new residents.
Or the ways the immigration system is failing us.
There is also an interactive graph (which was a little buggy for me on Chrome this morning but worked great in Opera), plotting out Canadians attitudes towards immigration with one's responses to the the questions “How do you feel immigration affects Canada?” and “How often do you interact with immigrants?” You can rank yourself on the two axes, and then narrow the data down with drop down menus to see where others of your age group, province or gender ranked themselves.
With the data currently plotted, for example, here’s how B.C. compares to the rest of Canada:
In the “Where does your community fit in?” tab, you can enter your postal code and see immigration stats for your neighbourhood or city (the data is from Statscan, 2006). In Vancouver, for example, 42 per cent of the population are immigrants, mostly from China, India, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Most of them were children (under 15-years-old) when they arrived, mostly between 1991 and 2000.
There is more to come in this series. The Globe has put out a news release promising:
Later in the week, South Asia Correspondent Stephanie Nolen will cover why Indians are less inclined to immigrate to Canada, while the Globe's London-based European Bureau Chief Doug Saunders looks at Canada's future through the lens of Europe - and what will happen next if we don't embrace "smart immigration"
The demographics reporter Joe Friesen, who wrote the initial story, will also “examine the cost of an immigrant to Canadian taxpayers and whether geo-targeting is a strategy we should consider.”
Posted by No comments:

The Immigrant Answer:


Two week Globe and Mail series to examine the role immigration must play in the future of Canada
***
The Immigrant Answer in print and online at ourtimetolead.ca
TORONTO, May 7, 2012 /CNW/ - On Saturday May 5, 2012, The Globe and Mail unveiled The Immigrant Answer, a two-week series that explores immigration in Canada and the case for allowing significantly more foreigners to settle here. The Immigrant Answer explores Canada's options through a variety of crucial lenses, from government policy to settlement patterns to how we market "Brand Canada" abroad. The series is the latest theme to be explored by The Globe's Canada: Our Time to Lead (www.ourtimetolead.ca) editorial series.
"We created the Our Time to Lead series to engage our readers in lively, action-oriented discussions about issues that will ultimately define who we are as Canadians and a nation, and immigration definitely falls into that category," said John Stackhouse, Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail. "With gaps in our workforce left by retiring baby boomers and the need for a younger, well educated population, the success of our country depends on making the right decisions about immigration today. This series explores and uncovers these next steps."
Demographics reporter Joe Friesen kicked off the series on Saturday by exploring the reasons why Canada should dramatically increase Canada's immigration numbers.  Later in the series, Friesen will examine the cost of an immigrant to Canadian taxpayers and whether geo-targeting is a strategy we should consider. A Q&A with Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism will reveal the pressing immigration issues keeping the man in charge up at night, and what the future may hold.
Later in the week, South Asia Correspondent Stephanie Nolen will cover why Indians are less inclined to immigrate toCanada, while the Globe's London-based European Bureau Chief Doug Saunders looks at Canada's future through the lens of Europe - and what will happen next if we don't embrace "smart immigration".
The Immigrant Answer series is supported by a number of interactive features accessible to readers atwww.tgam.ca/immigrant-answer including a video mosaic of immigrants answering the question "What was your greatest challenge or best moment?" slideshows of innovators who are helping immigrants settle into Canada; and a postal code look up tool that allows readers to understand the diversity of their neighborhoods.
About The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail, through its newspaper, magazine, online and mobile platforms, is Canada's foremost news media company.  Each day, The Globe leads the national discussion by engaging Canadians in its award-winning coverage and analysis of news, politics, business and lifestyle.  The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, founded in 1844, Report on Business, Canada's most influential business magazine, and globeandmail.com, the newspaper's online and mobile media hub, reach a combined 5.7 million readers every month.  The Globe has received numerous journalism awards, including the international 2011 prize for General Excellence in Journalism from the Online News Association, nine Michener Awards for Public Service Journalism, and more National Newspaper Awards than any other newspaper in Canada.  The Globe and Mail is 85% owned by Woodbridge, the investment arm of the Thomson family, and Bell Canada (15%).
For further information:
or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Kristen Marano, kmarano@environicspr.com, 416-969-2730
Sebastian Gatica, sgatica@environicspr.com, 416-969-2768
Posted by No comments:

Does temporary foreign workers program create second class of labourers?


NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE

CALGARY— Globe and Mail Update

This is part of The Immigrant Answer –The Globe's series on the future of immigration in Canada. Read the original story here.
Five years of dealing with temporary foreign workers affected Yessy Byl in a way she did not expect. There were the stories, from the more than 1,000 people she spoke with in her job as a labour advocate, of neglect and mistreatment – overtime not paid, commitments not honoured, hefty “hiring fees” deducted from weekly cheques. And yet many of them wouldn’t make a formal complaint for fear they’d be fired just for speaking out.
It left her deflated and disillusioned. “My faith in this country has been badly shaken,” she says. “I have to remind myself: There are some good employers.”
For Ms. Byl, and many other critics, Canada’s growing numbers of temporary foreign workers have raised important questions about the kind of country we are becoming, and how a nation that has long welcomed immigrants is establishing a burgeoning second class of labour, devoid of many of the rights to democratic participation and workplace choice other Canadians enjoy.
As Canadian employers struggle to address a burgeoning labour shortage, temporary foreign workers have become a pillar of the economy – there are now more than 300,000 here, triple the number a decade ago. Visiting workers once associated with harvest time in Canada’s orchards and tobacco fields now turn up everywhere from fast-food chains and abattoirs to the Alberta oil sands.
Anticipating another surge in demand, the Harper government has, in the past few weeks, formalized a series of changes to speed up the program. Now able to bring in people with just 10 days notice and to pay them 15-per-cent less than a Canadian would earn, employers have responded with joy. They still must prove they can’t fill a job any other way, but others see deeper significance in the trend and are holding their breath.
Howard Ramos, who studies social justice and equity at Dalhousie University, says he is “really worried that Canada as a country is beginning to move away from immigration.”
If the commitment to bringing in people who are not bound to a particular job and have more rights really is being eroded, he says, the change in direction is unprecedented and will have an impact that is “bad for the long-term future of Canadian nation-building.”
Ken Lewenza, national president of the CAW, agrees. He says Ottawa’s new rules are “an assault not just on foreign workers. They are an assault on Canada and what we stand for.”
“There’s got to be a larger conversation,” he says, “about whether it is right of Canada and employers to exploit workers.” One CAW local discovered that 30 Thai and Mexican fish-plant workers were being housed in just two three-bedroom homes in Wheatley, Ont. But they were too frightened to speak out, worried they’d lose the ability to work in Canada.
Canada needs people
There is little question that Canada needs people. Virtually every sector of the economy is forecasting shortages: The information, communications and technology industry needs 106,000 people in the next five years. Mining needs 112,000 by 2021. Construction needs 319,000 by 2020. Alberta, with a population of 3.8 million, forecasts a need for 607,000 new workers in the next decade, and expects to fall 114,000 short.
Many experts argue that without temporary foreign workers the predicament would be even worse – that visitors enable economic growth. They already fill many of the gaps even though they are allowed to work for no more than four years, and are severely restricted in other jobs they can take if fired.
In 2008, at the height of the last boom, 190,768 such workers entered Canada. Last year, despite a one-fifth rise in national unemployment rates, the number of foreign entries did not plunge – in fact, it rose by precisely one person, to 190,769.
Experiences with temporary employees in Europe and the United States show that they can bring fundamental change, positive and negative. Germany’s famed “guest workers” were instrumental in making the country an industrial powerhouse. Yet elsewhere in Europe, their presence has brought problems. In France, for example, race riots of the past decade were blamed in part on the ghettoization of overseas workers whose secondary legal and societal status fomented anger. In the U.S., too, the use of foreign workers has stoked a national debate over how to integrate needed workers into society.
Supporters of Canada’s recent changes contend the changes actually protect workers. To achieve a quick decision on bringing in outsiders, a company must agree to random audits to ensure they are following the rules. If they fail, and don’t correct the problem, they can be banned from bringing in more workers for two years.
“The consequences are very significant” – and being blacklisted could “make you lose a competitive advantage,” says Loretta Bouwmeester, a Calgary employment and labour lawyer.
Not only are companies now conducting internal audits to make doubly sure they are following the rules, she adds, it’s so expensive to find people and get them here (employers often must cover travel costs) that “there’s still an incentive to look in Canada first.”
Enforcement has been lax
But critics say Ottawa and the provinces have been so lax in enforcing current rules that employers no longer fear being caught for underpaying workers, charging them illegal fees or doing an insufficient job of canvassing for Canadian labour.
In an e-mail response, a representative for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada declined to confirm that more money will be spent on auditing, but did say that resources within the program will be shifted “to focus on post-application compliance.”
Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, says there is no question the visitors are cost-effective for those who hire them. In fact, he argues, “they’re putting downward pressure on wages when all the economic indicators suggest that wages should be going up.”
Anecdotal evidence, from small contractors, suggests that’s already happening, as well-paid Alberta crews are having trouble competing.
But for now, at least, paycheques are still getting fatter: adjusting for inflation, wages in Alberta have risen 12 per cent since 2005, according to figures provided by ATB. Across Canada, they are up 7.5 per cent.
And in Alberta, some believe any downward pressure could actually be helpful.
“I don't think it will distort the labour market – and at very worst, the wages in oil-and- gas extraction could handle coming down a notch or two,” said Todd Hirsch, senior economist for Edmonton-based ATB Financial.
To find out what immigration looks like in your community, see and interactive look at solutions to Canada's immigration problem and share your own story click here.
Posted by No comments:

A bottom-up immigration strategy


Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is to be congratulated for the urgency with which he is moving to transform the chaotic and dysfunctional nature of Canada’s current immigration system.
However, abdicating the immigrant selection process to the private sector is not the solution nor is it the remedy to overcoming a sclerotic immigration bureaucracy.
Reforming the whole continuum of Canada’s immigration and integration process needs to be undertaken and must involve many more partners. The following are some preliminary steps to strengthen a bottom-up, community-driven and owned process to create a more coherent, joined up and effective immigration system.
Community partnerships: The broad range of roles and responsibilities played by local agencies in the private, public and voluntary sectors who provide essential immigrant and settlement services needs to be strengthened. Immigration involves many local players and this is an opportunity to release the many existing (but under-resourced) place-based, bottom-up innovations that involve not just employers but a whole range of other important local stakeholders who are directly impacted by immigration. Immigration is an area that cries out for meaningful collaborative partnerships. For example, local stakeholder organizations are ideally placed to work with government to implement local, targeted immigrant attraction strategies in response to local labour market supply needs which can then be tied into custom designed post migration settlement and integration efforts.
Addressing institutional barriers: The dilatory way in which international education and professional qualifications are assessed and addressed in Canada is inexcusable. If Canada is to compete and succeed in the global marketplace of the 21st century, the present endless discussions with professional and trades associations must be replaced with robust and time-limited work to eliminate exclusionary barriers in the workplace and the implementation of professional and organizational practices that are inclusive and equitable.
Intergovernmental relations: The present climate of federal-provincial ambiguity regarding Ontario’s role in immigration has severely hampered the ability to respond to the changing dynamics around immigration in this province. The current inertia in intergovernmental negotiations must be saved from its low-level, bureaucratic backwater and given priority and profile. Given the huge impact and significance of immigration on towns and cities across the province, rather than the current token tickbox exercises, these negotiations need to formally involve municipalities in immigration matters.
Public education: The receptivity of the receiving society is a key determinant in ensuring the successful integration and participation of newcomers. The quality of local interactions in employment, schools, health care, housing, public transportation and so on is the glue that retains and keeps immigrants. If it is a hostile environment, it becomes that much more difficult to attracting immigrant and provide effective settlement services. Efforts are required to not only reduce public anxiety and apprehension about immigrants and immigration, but to promote the positive realities and benefits.
Local planning: Much stronger structural planning and co-ordinating mechanisms need to be put in place at the local level. In addition, much more useful and up-to-date information needs to be collected and analyzed that can actually increase our capacity to make informed decisions at the local level. This body of knowledge needs to be disseminated widely and in forms that are accessible to a wide range of audiences.
These preliminary suggestions offer a way by which we, as Canadians can begin to assume more involvement in making immigration work at the local, community level. An effective immigration system will be only be successful as a dynamic two-way process in which newcomers and we, as the receiving society, can work together to build secure, inclusive and prosperous communities.
Tim Rees is the former manager of immigration strategy with the City of Hamilton and has been involved in immigrant integration issues for the last 30 years.
Posted by No comments:

Can you enter Canada if you have a criminal conviction?


By Steven Meurrens
May 4, 2012
In November 2011, the Auditor General of Canada Michael Ferguson released a report criticizing the Canadian government for having what he essentially described as a completely inadequate screening process for detecting people who pose a security risk to Canadians.
As one might expect, this did not go over too well with a Conservative government that spent much of the autumn session pushing a public safety agenda. It responded to the auditor general’s report by promising to comply with his recommendations, and stating that it had already begun to make significant investments to improve security screening. Previously, people with criminal convictions occasionally entered Canada undetected. Border officials would also often let them into Canada on a short-term basis without requiring much paperwork. Now, both of these scenarios are likely to become less common.
It is, therefore, important that people who have been convicted of a criminal offence determine in advance whether they will likely be prohibited from entering Canada.
 Will you be inadmissible to Canada?
If a conviction exists, then it is necessary to determine whether the conviction’s equivalent offence in Canada would be a summary, hybrid or indictable offence under an act of Parliament. Then, one must determine when the individual’s sentence was completed, and whether the offence is one such that passage of time nullifies the inadmissibility.
 Consequences for common offences
Here are immigration consequences for some of the more common offences that people have. In general, offences involving the operation of a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol will render persons inadmissible to Canada for a period of 10 years following the completion of the sentence. The same is true for assault.
Trafficking cocaine, breaking and entering, and sexual assault will generally render persons criminally inadmissible to Canada. The passage of time will not in and of itself resolve this inadmissibility. On the other hand, the possession of a small amount of marijuana, multiple speeding tickets or engaging in prostitution usually does not result in an individual being inadmissible to Canada.
What to do if inadmissible 
If someone is criminally inadmissible to Canada, but needs to enter the country, they then can either apply for rehabilitation or for a temporary resident permit (“TRP”).  If a rehabilitation application is approved, then the person is no longer inadmissible to Canada, and can come and go as he or she wants. A TRP, however, is only good for one entry.
A certain period of time must pass before an individual who has been convicted of an offence can apply for rehabilitation; the general rule of thumb is it has to be more than five years since completion of a sentence. Applicants are required to provide their criminal record, court dispositions, reference letters and other documents demonstrating that the person is not a threat to Canadian public safety.
Immigration officers were previously willing to admit people into the country without the above documentation, but it is now unlikely due to the increased focus on enhancing security screening. As a result, if you have been convicted of a criminal offence, then it’s up to you to determine whether you are inadmissible, and the steps that you can take to overcome that.

Posted by No comments:

HOW DOES CANADA RECRUIT IMMIGRANTS?

Source: The Globe and Mail

For years Canada has easily met its immigration targets. But getting the right immigrant mix to ease Canada's demographic dilemma will require a more aggressive effort to court potential migrants – while in competition with other countries with shortages of skilled labour. Steps can be taken in both the private and public sectors to establish more of a presence abroad, offer incentives, promote Canada's image and set up information and support networks.


1-Contest: To find clean-technology innovators to do business in Nova Scotia, Innovacorp ran a competition. The prize included $100,000. A local company won, but the competition created links with global innovators, including a Dutch company now negotiating a move to the province. 


2-Job fairs: In a recent example of this widely used approach, Saskatchewan took a contingent of immigration specialists and employers to Ireland in March to help recruit highly skilled workers. The team attended job fairs in Dublin and Cork and at last count, employers had extended offers for 282 positions.


3-Overseas recruitment: Last summer, Winkler, Manitoba, set up an office in Berlin to interview potential immigrants who were interested in setting up small businesses, but who had no personal contacts in the province and weren't able to make an exploratory visit. They interviewed applicants from more than 10 countries from as far away as Latvia and Kazakhstan. The city of 11,000 is expecting the first wave from that trip to arrive this summer.


4-Supportive networking: The Professional Immigrant Networks (PINs) website is designed to create connections between immigrants, employers and community agencies, such as the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada or the Latin American MBA Alumni Network. The website launched on Feb. 9, 2012 in association with the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.


5-Promoting Canada's potential: C100 brings successful Canadian expatriates together with IT and start-up professionals. This non-profit, member-driven organization puts Canadian ingenuity on display at their conferences and events, exposing tech entrepreneurs to the burgeoning talent and business potential in Canada. 






Related articles

Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Leave us a message

Check our online courses now

Check our online courses now
Click Here now!!!!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Vcita